


Soft Shock

by lowcarbzeros



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Getting Together, Kissing, Reader-Insert, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 22:37:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17476244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowcarbzeros/pseuds/lowcarbzeros
Summary: It’s weird. Kuroo’s one of your best friends. He’s probably the person you trust most in the world, but here you are, too afraid to hold his hand even though you’re pretty sure he wants you to.But you’re not dating.Even though you’ve been dancing around each other for months now.





	Soft Shock

**Author's Note:**

> Another commission piece! This one for Dani :) Thank you for your support!
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this one (even though it took me decades). 
> 
> *Note that this takes place at Kuroo's 18th birthday party
> 
> Enjoy!

The autumn breeze is cool on the skin of your face as you exit the gates of the school, ruffling your hair and bringing with it the crisp smell of fallen leaves. You tug your jacket a little tighter to fend off the chill when suddenly an arm is flung around your shoulders, weighing you down and causing you to stumble. You already have a feeling who the offending arm belongs to, but you peak up through your hair anyway to see a mess of spiky black hair and a grin aimed right down at you. The smiles he gives you always manage to put a hitch in your breath, and you’re glad that your cheeks are already red from the cold, disguising the blush that he’s put there. 

“Tetsu-kun, you’re going to make me fall over one of these days,” you huff at him, feigning annoyance. 

He relieves some of the weight he was putting on your shoulders, but still keeps his arm there, making your stomach flutter. 

“Don’t worry,” he grins teasingly, “I’ll be sure to catch you before you hit the ground.”

“Gee, thanks,” you snort and elbow him in the side. 

He makes an  _ oof _ sound and clutches at his ribs as if you actually hit him hard. You roll your eyes and smile. What a goof. 

“Hey,” he says when he straightens up, “You’re coming to my party tonight, right?” 

“Of course I am, it’s your birthday.” 

“Good.” 

When you look up at his face there’s an expression there that you can’t quite place, and he’s avoiding meeting your eyes. Is he nervous? Did he think you wouldn’t come? Before you can figure it out, you’re finally joined by your third party member. As soon as Kuroo sees Kenma, he withdraws his arm from your shoulders, leaving you with a bit of a knot in your stomach. You ignore it and smile over at Kenma, but your smile falters when you see his sharp eyes watching Kuroo like he knows something. 

“H-hey, Kenma-kun,” you fix your smile, “Ready to go?” 

He drags his eyes away from Kuroo, softening when he looks at you. “Yeah.” 

“Onward then!” Kuroo says because he’s a dork. 

The three of you walk side by side down the street, Kuroo in the middle. His hand swings at his side beside you where it would usually be tucked into his pocket. You itch to reach out and take it, but feel uncertain about crossing that line. 

It’s weird. Kuroo’s one of your best friends. He’s probably the person you trust most in the world, but here you are, too afraid to hold his hand even though you’re pretty sure he wants you to. 

But you’re not dating. 

Even though you’ve been dancing around each other for months now.

There’s a strange warmth that surrounds you both when you’re not around anyone else, like you’re together in your own little bubble. Sharing soft smiles and giggles, light brushes of fingers, playful nudges. It sometimes gets to the point where you feel like your chest might explode from affection. You see it in Kuroo too, when a light blush graces his cheeks and he looks at you, eyes a little wider than usual. 

But you’re not dating.

You should be though, and you both know it. At this point you’re sure Kenma knows it too, and probably everyone else who knows both of you. 

God, that’s embarrassing. 

The sound of your name pulls you out of your head. You realise that you’re at your bus stop and halt your steps. 

Kuroo and Kenma both look at you with raised brows. 

“Ah, spaced out sorry,” you explain. 

Kuroo grins. “You were thinkin’ about me weren’t you?” he teases.

Your eyes widen briefly before you get a hold of yourself and roll them, shoving Kuroo’s shoulder half-heartedly. “You wish.” 

The look the two of you share is filled with a butterfly-filled heaviness.

“Kuro,” Kenma mumbles, disrupting the moment, “It’s cold let’s go.” 

“Uh, yeah,” he says, tearing his eyes away from you and laughing awkwardly. He looks back at you and you’d swear his cheeks got a bit redder, despite the cold. “I’ll see you tonight, yeah?”

The corner of your mouth lifts in a shy smile, “Yeah.”

He nods once and then starts to walk away. You share a quick goodbye with Kenma and then he joins Kuroo. 

You watch them continue down the street. Once they’re down a little ways, Kenma must say something because suddenly Kuroo squawks, “KENMA!!!” his voice cracking. He shoves Kenma and then looks behind him. Your eyes meet for a second and then he whips his head forward again, rubbing the back of his neck as he starts walking faster. 

Whatever that was, it makes your stomach erupt into summersaults. 

As your bus pulls up to the curb you think,  _ Tonight’s going to be interesting.  _

 

After an entire evening of trying to figure out what to wear and what you should do with your hair, you finally make it to the Kuroo residence. The party’s already kickin’ when you enter the door, music playing, people chatting, drinks in their hands. Kuroo-san’s on a business trip for the weekend and Kuroo’s grandma is probably upstairs, pretending this isn’t happening. (She adores Kuroo and lets him get away with almost everything.)

You were so nervous about coming that you ended up fashionably late, but it’s probably better this way, since anyone who would show up earlier would have had a better chance to tease you and Kuroo in a smaller group. 

“Hey Kuroo!” you hear Yaku shout over the music from somewhere nearby, “Your girlfriend’s here!” 

Ah, well.

You don’t hear Kuroo answer, and you can only assume that he’s now hiding behind a piece of furniture with his hands over his face. Your own face is terribly warm now and you hide it behind your scarf as you toe off your shoes. 

Once you have your jacket and everything put away in the closet, you wade into the crowd of people, saying hi to those you know. Most of the people at the party are from Nekoma, but there are a few from rival volleyball teams that you recognise. Eventually you spot Kenma on the edge of the crowd, leaning against the wall playing a game on his phone with one hand and holding a drink in the other. 

“Hey Kenma-kun,” you greet when you reach him. He looks up through his blonde hair and smiles at you, pocketing his phone. 

“Hey.” 

You lean your shoulder against the wall beside him and scan the crowd.

“Um, where’s Tetsu-kun?” 

A smirk pulls at the corners of Kenmas mouth when he says, “He ran into the kitchen after Yaku called you his girlfriend.” 

You sputter a little, trying to play it cool when you say, “Why would he do that? Yaku’s just teasing.” 

Kenma doesn’t even grace that with a verbal response, only raises a disbelieving eyebrow at you. 

You purse your lips, chewing on a snarky rebuttal, but come up short because you can’t deny anything, not to Kenma of all people.

“Sh-shut up,” you finally mutter, turning your head away. 

You hear his soft laugh and huff, pushing yourself off of the wall to head to the kitchen.

When you enter you find Kuroo alone rummaging in the fridge. He looks up at the sound of someone walking in and his eyes bug out a little when he sees you. 

“H-hey,” he swallows and then schools is expression into something much more chill, “You came.” 

“I told you I was.” 

“Right.” He smacks his lips and everything is very awkward, static. Then Kuroo seems to jump in his own skin, gesturing to the fridge, “Dr-drink?”

“S-sure.” 

You walk closer to him, hands clasped in front of you. Kuroo reaches into the fridge and then pulls out a drink and presents it to you. 

It’s your favourite.

With a soft smile, you take it, daring to look into Kuroo’s eyes. “Thank you.”

Kuroo returns your smile and the awkwardness lifts, replaced by the soft glowing warmth that you’ve grown very fond of. 

Then it all collapses when Bokuto charges into the kitchen. 

“Don’t mind me!” he says far too loudly, and so, so obviously trying to get a rise out of Kuroo, “I’m just getting another drink and then I’ll be out of the way! Pretend I’m not even here!” 

“Kinda hard when you’re so loud,” Kuroo mutters.

A cheeky grin swallows Bokuto’s entire face as he wiggles the beer he grabbed from the fridge in the air and leaves the kitchen, booming laugh trailing behind him.

“What a loud-mouth,” Kuroo grumbles, glaring in the direction Bokuto left.

To try and alleviate any awkwardness before it gets the chance to settle in, you say, “You're one to talk.”

“Hey now!” he says, all of his attention directed back at you. With Bokuto gone he’s regained some composure and he approaches you slowly, a little bit of swagger in his step. “Y’know, you shouldn’t be rude to the birthday boy.” 

It’s the same easy, casual flirting that you’ve grown used to after all this time, and that makes you feel brave. 

“Oh really?” you respond, stepping even closer into his space and looking up at him through your eyelashes, “What should I be then?”

He looks down at you, contemplating your words as a cute blush spreads over his nose and cheeks. His gaze flickers between your eyes and your mouth, electricity charging between your bodies. For moment you think that this is it, that he’s really going to go for it, but then you watch as, in very typical Kuroo fashion, he loses his nerve. 

After opening and closing his mouth like he’s going to say something a couple times, he abruptly averts his eyes and clears his throat. 

“You should, ah, be out enjoying the party.” 

He laughs nervously and places a hand on your arm, directing you out of the kitchen. 

_ Dammit, Tetsurou,  _ you think,  _ that was your opening! _

But despite what just happened, something about tonight feels different, and you’re confident that by the end of it all, a change will come. 

At least you really, really hope so because this is just getting ridiculous. 

The night goes on in the weird haze that always tends to envelope high school house parties. It’s like time starts to move in slow motion, and everything has a warm glow around it. There’s always someone laughing over the music, or people cheering for reasons you’re not always sure of. At one point you find yourself in a staring contest with Kenma, surrounded by people cheering you and him on. It lasts an impressive amount of time, but even with Kuroo standing behind you trying to mess Kenma up, you lose. 

A good portion of your night is spent trying not to follow Kuroo around like your instincts tell you to. It’s a balance of wanting to be close to him and wanting him to  _ know _ that you want to be close to him (especially with the light buzz of alcohol flowing through you), but also not wanting to seem clingy and annoying. Because as much as you’re certain he likes you back, there’s always just enough self-doubt to make you hesitate. Like, what if he likes you back but doesn’t want to do anything about it? Doesn’t want to risk your friendship? 

It’s silly, probably, but that doesn’t stop you from worrying about it. 

But as you worry about all of this, you suddenly get the sensation like you’re being watched. When you turn your head your eyes are drawn to someone across the room. 

Kuroo.

A moment after you meet his gaze, he smiles at you, all crooked and charming. It flips your stomach in a pleasant way, sends your heart racing. He tips his head slightly toward Bokuto and Akaashi who seem to be having a very animated, but also probably sexually charged argument. When you look back at Kuroo he rolls his eyes like,  _ what else is new, _ and you can’t help but giggle to yourself. You shrug back at him,  _ they’re hopeless, _ and his smile grows wider as his shoulders shake with laughter. The intimacy of it all suddenly flusters you and you have to look away, biting your bottom lip to keep from smiling too fondly. 

Oh goodness, you’re in so, so deep. 

You’re so focused on trying to calm your heart that you don’t notice someone approach you until there’s a gentle hand on your elbow. It startles you and you snap your head up to find Kuroo standing right in front of you. You hadn’t even realised that the group you were standing with had dispersed. 

“Hey,” you greet him far too breathlessly. 

“Hey,” he parrots. It’s silent between you for a moment until Kuroo rubs the back of his neck and gestures behind him, saying, “Thought I’d leave Bokuto and Akaashi to their lovers quarrel.” 

“You sound like an old man when you put it like that,” you inform him with a laugh.

He rolls his eyes. “Well they do act like an old married couple, like, all the time.” 

You look over his shoulder to watch them, not arguing anymore, but instead completely lost in one another. You swallow down your envy and sigh, “Yeah, they do.” 

“Hey, uh,” Kuroo says abruptly, drawing your attention back to him. He has a weird look on his face, and he can’t seem to meet your eyes when he says, “It’s, uh, kinda warm in here ya? W-wanna get some air?” 

Only after he gets the words out does he look back at your face, which you’re sure is wearing a somewhat bewildered expression. 

“S-sure.” 

He nods once and then he nods again as if to reassure himself. “Cool, okay. Uh, come on.” 

He leads you away from the main room to the door at the back of the house that leads to the sunroom. It was deemed off limits to everyone else at the party except for Kenma, but Kenma left about a half hour ago so it’s sure to be empty. Butterflies flutter in your stomach as he slides the door open, letting you go through first. You think you hear a wolf-whistle behind you, but choose to ignore it.

The room is kind of cold, but it does feel nice after being stuffed into a room with a bunch of other warm bodies for so long. The door slides shut behind you and the sound of it sets your heart hammering in your chest. Kuroo’s arm brushes yours as he passes you to walk further into the room, raising goosebumps on your skin. 

This is it. This has to be it.

After taking a moment to try and calm down, you join Kuroo where he’s sliding open the door that leads outside. Fresh cool air breezes into the room, filling your lungs in a way you didn’t know you desperately needed until now. 

“That’s better,” Kuroo says, leaning against the frame with his hands in his pockets. 

You hum in agreement, fingers knotting together in front of you. 

“So, uh, did you have fun tonight?” he asks sounding overly-casual, awkward. It almost makes you want to laugh, but you resist.

“Yeah, it’s been good,” you reply just as awkwardly. 

He nods, looking far too serious for the conversation. “Good, I’m glad.” 

It’s quiet for a beat, and then you nearly jump out of your skin with the urge to fill the silence.

“Um, what about you?” you ask him. “D-did you have fun?”

“Oh,” he looks surprised that you asked, and it’s so endearing and you’re both being so ridiculous, “Uh, yeah! It’s- it’s been good.” 

“Good,” you say, looking back out into the darkness of the Kuroo residence’s back yard.

The two of you lapse into a very tense quiet. As it drags on, you start to rock back and forth from your heels to your toes, trying to place your nervous energy anywhere but your mouth. The sounds of nighttime float into the room with the breeze, mingling with the muffled hum of the party coming from behind you. If it were any other time, standing here in the quiet with Kuroo would be nice, peaceful, but too much has gone unsaid for too long and if he doesn’t say something soon your heart is going to beat right out of your chest and then—

“So I, uh, actually wanted to ask you something,” Kuroo’s voice suddenly comes from beside you, the words pushed out of this mouth in a rush like they’d been building up pressure behind his lips. It startles you out of your spiral and you snap your head around to look at him. He looks nervous and a little uncertain, but there’s a determined glint in his eyes that sets your skin on fire. 

“Okay,” you say softly, hopefully. 

He looks down, scuffing a foot against the floor, and huffs a short laugh. “You, uh, probably already know what I’m gonna ask, but um, I was wondering if… if you would uh,” he swallows and then laughs again. 

A smile stretches across your face, so wide it hurts your cheeks, happiness swelling in your chest until it becomes too much and you’re laughing too. 

Kuroo looks up at you with a bashful smile, eyes sparkling. 

All awkwardness suddenly disappears, leaving just the warmth and glow and the familiarity that is you and Kuroo.

“We’ve been kinda dumb haven’t we?” he says. 

You nod your head, still beaming, “Yeah.” 

He shakes his head disbelievingly, looking up and away briefly before looking back at you, pinning you with a warm gaze. 

He says your name like it’s been dipped in honey and then tilts his head to the side just as sweetly, saying, “Will you go out with me?” 

You knew he was going to ask, but still the question stutters your heart. 

“Yeah,” you answer, the elation clear in your voice, “Yeah, I’d really like that.” 

The smile that graces Kuroo’s face is blinding. 

And then you’re both laughing, excited and happy, faces flushed with it all.

“Can I kiss you?” he asks. 

“Please do,” you breathe. 

He only hesitates a moment and then he’s stepping closer to you, slowly easing himself into your space. Has he always been so tall? Nerves swell up in your throat suddenly, but you swallow them down, licking your lips instinctively, tilting your head up in waiting. Your heart is pounding as he places one hand on your hip, the other cups your face, and you can’t really breathe, but he’s leaning down, eyes lidded, and you’ve wanted this for so long that your head is spinning. Your eyelids flutter closed and then all thoughts come to a halt when his lips touch yours.

It’s a firm kiss, warm and soft and filled with all of the feelings you’ve both been keeping pent up. 

Just as you begin to feel like you might float away, he starts to pull back. He doesn’t go far, though, keeping his face close as you both slowly open your eyes and blink at each other, a little breathless. 

Kuroo swallows and says, “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” 

You breathe a laugh, grabbing onto his shirt to keep yourself grounded in this moment, “Me too.” 

He smiles, and then you’re kissing again, like you’re trying to make up for all of the times that you should have but didn’t. You can’t help but giggle against his lips, giddy and high off of the feeling of having him so close, finally. 

He continues to kiss you even though he’s started to laugh too, and after awhile you both have to give up because kissing and smiling at the same time is really hard. Instead, Kuroo pulls you to him and wraps his long arms around you. You return the embrace, hiding your smiling face into his chest. 

“I’m really happy,” he eventually says, voice a rumble against your ear. 

“Me too,” you respond. 

You stay wrapped up in each other a little longer until eventually Kuroo groans and squeezes you tight. 

“Everyone’s gonna be really obnoxious when we go back inside, aren’t they?” 

Oh. 

Oh yeah.

You’d kind of forgotten that there was a party going on. 

However, you shrug and say, “It’s not like they’ve ever not been obnoxious about us.” 

He laughs, “Yeah, you’re right.” And then he sighs and pulls back enough to look down at you. “Shall we then?” 

You pull out of his arms and nod, “We shall.” 

After he closes the doors and makes sure they’re locked, he takes your hand and leads you to the entrance to the house. 

And even though no one is going to be shocked, and everyone is going to tease you both, you’re still excited to be rejoining the party as something new. 

Finally.


End file.
